Player Meeting - Statement Representatives from We Are The Rovers joined other fan groups and individuals to meet with a delegation from the club, including 5 senior players on Wednesday 7th February. This was arranged with less than 24 hours notice. This meeting was never intended to be secret, but the fact that a breech in GDPR led to immediate speculation amongst the wider fanbase meant issuing a collective and comprehensive review by attendees became difficult. We were still sat round the table when CCTV footage started circulating and speculation began. We have a platform to put questions and suggestions to the club on a regular basis. Our next meeting with the Club on the basis of our Memorandum of Understanding is scheduled for next week. The discussions and outcomes will be comprehensively minuted and publicly available, we continue to seek input and questions to pose from our members. Other groups/individuals in attendance do not have that mandate, and this meeting presented them with an opportunity to voice concerns that many of their members, followers and fellow supporters have been raising. All supporters and players were given opportunities to speak, and there was a frank discussion around current form and morale in the squad. Nobody in the room was happy with current results and agreed they need to improve as a matter of urgency. The players were critical of their own performances. There was naturally discussion about the atmosphere at the QPR fixture. It was made very clear that any booing and chanting was not simply a result of that performance, but a culmination of anger and frustration at current events at board and ownership level that have been prevalent for many years. We Are The Rovers have repeatedly challenged the club to work with supporters on improving the match day experience and atmosphere. The players were in agreement with us that this should be addressed. Simply, a lively atmosphere is preferable to a lack of atmosphere, and a toxic atmosphere can be demoralising. A more in depth review from other perspectives will be shared by the respective attendees, but some takeaway points from us: - It was interesting to see players questioning Steve Waggott on ticket pricing. A drum we constantly bang. - Players were as vocal, disappointed and angry as anyone round the table regarding the Duncan McGuire transfer saga. - The players and the fans share the same opinion that current results have not been good enough, and a strong desire to see them improve - There was no attempt to try to silence voices, quash criticism, or avoid issues from anyone involved. Everyone did however express a desire to come together and ensure the season does not end in relegation. - There has been speculation about certain elements of the meeting not being shared with the wider fanbase. We were made aware that there would likely be upcoming media speculation, which occurred before we left the venue. https://www.roverstrust.com/news/player-meeting-statement

February 2024 Newsletter Dear Member, Your Rovers Trust Board clearly have concerns with the current issues surrounding our football club. As such we held an emergency meeting of the We Are The Rovers (WATR) Board on Sunday evening 4th February. You will be aware WATR recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the club. This provides us with an excellent opportunity to raise issues and concerns with representatives of the owners. The next MoU meeting is on the 15th February. We have asked if this meeting can be brought forward given our concerns. The MoU meeting will give your Board the opportunity to raise our serious concerns on the following areas: ownership; finances; club communications; culture; and reputational damage. We can assure you the above will be robustly and properly raised on behalf of our WATR members and the wider fanbase. We will keep you updated.

Newsletter: January 2024 Our latest ‘We Are The Rovers’ Supporters Trust Board Meeting took place on the evening of the 23rd January. This newsletter records the key outcomes of the discussions from that meeting. ‘Fans Takeover’ Games We had a full discussion on fan takeovers, and it was agreed that the atmosphere at both the Girona pre-season friendly and the Watford league game were the best at Ewood for some time; this was achieved due to the initiative of the Supporters Trust. The Trust welcomed the support and commitment from Club staff for the Watford and Girona games and the excellent support from 4000 Holes, brfcs.com, Rovers Chat, Proud Rovers, Her Game Too, and the South Asian Supporters group. The Board reiterated its own commitment and resources for future fan takeover events as building new support, retaining existing support and re-engagement of lost support is a key part of our remit as a Trust. The Board also wanted to see what the Club’s medium to long term plan is for the building support base and improving what we believe to be a very poor match day atmosphere. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) The Board reiterated its commitment to the MoU. It is an important agreement, a unique line of engagement with the Club, and is a precursor to a Shadow Board. The next MoU is on 15th February and the Board agreed our representatives for that meeting. Our agenda items to be shared well in advance with the Club presently are: Fans Takeover Club Communications (and the need to share more re finances) Club Finances* Season Ticket Offering for 2024/25 Engagement with the Club Owners Heritage (150th Anniversary Arrangements / Rovers Museum) * We will express our concerns regarding the ongoing 1/4’ly Delhi High Court applications for essential funding to ensure statutory payments re maintained and staff are paid. Of particular concern to us is that we believe we are subject to the agreement of a Court many thousands of miles away; Court documents (31/10/2023) state ‘the inquiry which is going against the Petitioner is only at the nascent stage’, thus suggesting to the Trust Board the process of High Court applications could continue for a lengthy period of perhaps some years. We will also be asking for agreed minutes of the MoU meetings to be published on the Club’s website. If members have any suggestions as to additional agenda items, or points you wish us to stress then please email us via: chair@roverstrust.co.uk Heritage Our Heritage led Steve Williams is making a presentation at Blackburn Library on ‘Rovers Past & Present’ on the evening of the 8th February; this is supported by ‘We Are The Rovers’. We are also looking to repeat the event in the spring at a venue in Chorley as part of our outreach work to supporters outside of BwD. ‘We Are The Rovers’ AGM The Supporters Trust Annual General Meeting will take place on the evening of 26th June 2024. We are presently sourcing a cost-effective venue. Members will be advised in advance. A signed and framed Rovers 2023/24 shirt has been donated by a Trust Board member as a raffle prize. We will also look at the possibility of live streaming the event. South Asian Supporters Launch Steve Williams will be making a presentation on Rovers Heritage and History to the SAS launch event at the QPR game on Saturday 3rd February.

Our home fixture against Watford on December 23rd will see the second Fan Takeover day. Following on from the success of the pre season fixture against Girona a number of supporter groups/organisations will be working with the club to bring you a Blue and White Christmas. We think that with the great value of the ticket offering we can help attract a bumper crowd and that Rovers fans from far and wide will come and cheer the team on. We hope those supporters who will be back in Lancashire for the festive period will come along, or why not gift a ticket as an early Christmas present to a friend or family member who hasn’t been to Ewood in a while? We’d like to see everyone in their colours, and the theme of the day is Blue and White Christmas. We Are The Rovers will be unveiling some new crowd banners we hope will become a fixture at home and away games going forward - please bring your banners and flags and get behind the boys! As well as the usual match day offerings there will be festive food and drink choices and offers on the concourse. We will be joined by other fan groups, including our good friends at BRFCS and 4,000 holes, Her Game Too, Proud Rovers and Rovers SAS in the fanzone prior to the game. We’ll have some festive gifts to give away and some activities planned. We’ll also be selling gift membership packs for anyone in need of a last minute present for the discerning Rovers fan. There’ll be plenty of updates between now and then so keep your eyes peeled here and on our new look website for that, as well as some exclusive fan driven content from BRFCS, the 4000 Holes podcast and Rovers Chat in the build up.

The below was sent to Steve Waggott yesterday: Dear Steve, The Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust ‘We Are THE Rovers’ are most concerned at the latest Indian Government Enforcement Directorate (ED) action against the owners of our Club. We understand the investigation relates to “illegal remittances made by the company since 2010, till date, to its wholly owned subsidiary named Venky’s London Limited, Cardiff, UK.” The ED appears to directly implicate transactions relating to Blackburn Rovers. Clearly this is of major concern to our Supporters Trust. At the very least we would like to see a public statement from the Club as to any implications for Blackburn Rovers; we do however recognise you will want to pass any statement before the Club owners. Our next Trust meeting is not with yourselves until the 14th November, this is over one month away. If at all possible we would like the opportunity of an earlier meeting to discuss the single issue of the serious enforcement action against the owners, their future commitment to our Club and day-to-day funding. Can this please be arranged with some urgency even if it via Zoom? Regards, The We Are The Rovers Board

We are delighted to announce that the Rovers match against Girona on 29th July will be sponsored by the Supporters Trust, We Are The Rovers. Working with the club and other supporter groups we aim to provide a unique fan-led experience before, during and after the game. There’ll be plenty of exciting and exclusive content for you in the build up to the game, courtesy of BRFCS and Rovers Chat. Missed your physical match day Programme? It’s coming back for the day, courtesy of 4,000 Holes. Ever dreamed of hearing your favourite song played at Ewood? Well we’re taking over the playlist and we’ll be taking requests. There will be stalls at Ewood where you can find out about the work we and other fan groups have been doing. We’ll also be joined by the Community Trust who will be providing a number of activities suitable for all the family. We appreciate the club’s efforts to make the game affordable, but recognise times are tough. The Supporters Trust will be providing a limited number of tickets to individuals and families who are facing financial hardship currently. The party will continue after the full time whistle when we will be joined in Blues Bar by an exciting band with a local connection. Football without fans is nothing, and we hope we make this a memorable occasion for you all. We Are The Rovers

Just a reminder that our AGM will take place this Thursday in the Red Rose suite at Ewood Park, starting at 7:15pm. Existing and potential members are welcome to attend and we’d love to see as many of you there as possible. No tickets are required and you can just turn up on the evening. There’ll be refreshments and members attending will receive a free raffle ticket for the chance to win a special prize! Not only do we want to share our recent activities and achievements with you, we want your input on the future direction of your Supporters Trust. This is particularly important for us at the moment as we enter a new phase of increased supporter influence at the club. If you would like to become more involved or have any questions, we’d love to hear from you so please feel free to reach out for more information. We hope to see you on Thursday.

It conveys different things to different people though. To some Rovers Trust is a protest group. To others it’s an entity trying to buy BRFC. Rovers Trust also leads to a lot of confusion with the Community Trust We want it to convey that the Supporters Trust if open to absolutely all of our fans, and that supporters are the lifeblood of the club.

June 2023 is an important month in the lifetime of Rovers Trust. Above is our new name. Very soon you will see publicity about the Trust signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Club and on Thursday June 22nd we hold our 2023 AGM this time in the Red Rose Suite, Ronnie Clayton end at Ewood Park. The Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust was founded on the belief that supporters are the one constant at any club. Without fans, football serves no purpose and as such our interests should be at the forefront of any club’s decision making and supporters should hold influence at the highest level. The recent Fan Led Review on Football Governance, to which The Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust contributed significantly, represents an opportunity for supporters to finally have their voice heard and recognised by our club. Having operated under the Rovers Trust banner for over a decade, we believe now is the ideal time to move forward with a new identity: WE ARE THE ROVERS. We believe that all fans are equal and deserve their say in how our club is run. Players, managers, CEOs and owners come and go but supporters remain the one constant. It’s our club, and WE ARE the Rovers. We are immensely proud of our club’s rich history and heritage. The first and original Rovers, our team have been at the forefront of the game for almost 150 years. We are the most successful town team in world football. We are the only team to have won major honours in three centuries. We are THE ROVERS. We are not a supporter group, and remain a Trust in practical terms. We are still registered as BRSIT CBS LIMITED and remain regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are open to all regardless of location or background.Any person aged 18 or over can join and will receive the same voting power and say in the direction we take as any other Member. As a member of WE ARE THE ROVERS, you also become a minority Shareholder in Blackburn Rovers Football Club! And an opportunity to serve on any future ‘Shadow’ Board. MOST IMPORTANTLY the AGM is a key event of the Year. 4 Board Members have shown their keenness to serve another term: John Murray (Chair); Duncan Miller (Communications); Peter Bolton (Fans Forum and Finance); and Andy Young (National Issues inc White Paper). Mike Graham (currently co-opted) and Linda Chelton have indicated their wish to become Board Directors – this allows us to co-opt up to 6 more Board Members. The AGM will explain what in practical terms the MoU and the White Paper will lead to. We will also explain the ‘reasons’ to re-brand and the Membership drive. The more members we have, the more likely we will be to succeed in our collective aims. Recent positive discussions with the club, coupled with upcoming legislative change, mean we want to increase not only our core membership but our board and working parties too. We are moving into an exciting new phase – and we’d love you to be part of it. AGM: Thursday 22nd June @ Ewood......starts 7pm with Celebrity Mastermind featuring our Guest, Tim Farron MP. WE ARE THE ROVERS

Finally, the Govt has published its White Paper on football governance. Rovers Trust welcomes this. Our initial impressions are generally favourable. The key recommendation of the Fan Led Review: the creation of an independent regulator. Now that this has been endorsed and we believe this to be vitally important. Our hope is that legislation is brought forward as soon as possible to ensure the recommendations are brought in. We believe this to be good for supporters and football clubs in general.

For over a decade, the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust has been imploring the owners and those they have charged with running the club to engage with the wider supporter base and to listen to our concerns over the way the club operates. The last 48 hours have once again demonstrated a distinct lack of care and attention from those entrusted with the running of the club, and by extension, the owners. The debacle surrounding the failed deadline day signings is another example of incompetence and an inability to perform the basic duties necessary to provide a functioning football club. The fans, without whom the club would serve no purpose, have been left in limbo, let down and treated as an irrelevance. We deserve better than farcical situations like this. Having witnessed a poor second half to last season, there was something of a renewed sense of optimism surrounding the summer appointments at the club, now the remainder of our season appears to have been sabotaged by carelessness. AGAIN, we implore the club to engage with us. Swathes of empty seats, closed stands, record low gates since the Ewood redevelopment, should all be an indicator of current supporter feeling. We have attempted to convey the mood of the fans and offered ideas, initiatives, and assistance to help address this. However, embarrassing situations like this will only serve to turn apathy into anger. The fans are the beating heart of any club - WE ARE THE ROVERS – but after over a decade of neglect and disappointment, many of us have never felt so detached from the club. Change is long overdue. We expect the individual(s) responsible for this latest fiasco to be held accountable. On the back of the excellent fan-led review of football governance and the imminent Government White Paper, The Rovers Supporters Trust calls on the club to form a strategic alliance with a wide range of elected supporters in the form of a shadow board, with the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust at the heart of it to ensure the long term future of the club.

For over a decade, the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust has been imploring the owners and those they have charged with running the club to engage with the wider supporter base and to listen to our concerns over the way the club operates. The last 48 hours have once again demonstrated a distinct lack of care and attention from those entrusted with the running of the club, and by extension, the owners. The debacle surrounding the failed deadline day signings is another example of incompetence and an inability to perform the basic duties necessary to provide a functioning football club. The fans, without whom the club would serve no purpose, have been left in limbo, let down and treated as an irrelevance. We deserve better than farcical situations like this. Having witnessed a poor second half to last season, there was something of a renewed sense of optimism surrounding the summer appointments at the club, now the remainder of our season appears to have been sabotaged by carelessness. AGAIN, we implore the club to engage with us. Swathes of empty seats, closed stands, record low gates since the Ewood redevelopment, should all be an indicator of current supporter feeling. We have attempted to convey the mood of the fans and offered ideas, initiatives, and assistance to help address this. However, embarrassing situations like this will only serve to turn apathy into anger. The fans are the beating heart of any club - WE ARE THE ROVERS – but after over a decade of neglect and disappointment, many of us have never felt so detached from the club. Change is long overdue. We expect the individual(s) responsible for this latest fiasco to be held accountable. On the back of the excellent fan-led review of football governance and the imminent Government White Paper, The Rovers Supporters Trust calls on the club to form a strategic alliance with a wide range of elected supporters in the form of a shadow board, with the Blackburn Rovers Supporters Trust at the heart of it to ensure the long term future of the club.

Annual General Meeting: Wednesday 22 June 2022 at Billington& Whalley Brass Band Club, from 7.30pm. Present: Chair John Murray and 19 Members Guest: Josh Boswell(brfcs) Apologies: Andy Young(via Zoom), Anthony Green, Tracey Crouch MP 1/Welcome & Introductions In welcoming all attendees,John Murray referred to the following matters which would be discussed at the AGM and in which the Trust were involved: Fan Led Review Football Supporters Association AGM on 16 July 2022 Membership of the Trust 650 members Asset of Community Value (ACV) on Ewood Park to be renewed in 2023 Marketing Prospectus, 2nd Edition sent to Club in April 2022 Role of the Trust as a “critical friend” to ensure the long-term health of our Football Club. 2/Fan Led Review A Zoom Slide presentation from Andy Young outliningthe 36 recommendations published by the Review body.The Trust had submitted its views to the Review Committee, which had been chaired by Tracey Crouch MP, who unfortunately had been unable to attend the AGM. She had submitted her Report to the Government ( currently Secretary of State for Media Culture & Sport Nadine Dorries). The Government has promised a White Paper this summer with it largely endorsing most of theReview The Trust had written to all local MPs and havingreceived a reply from Kate Hollern, MP for Blackburn also had a Zoom meeting with her. Q& A’s The EPL and EFL are lobbying MP’s regarding the Review. The EPL are against the proposal of an independent regulator but it will be in the White Paper. The Government would select members to theindependent regulator. Rick Parry, Chair of the EFL has proposed alternatives to the current method of parachute payments. Gender and ethnicity included in the Review. The importance of strategic discussions between the Trust and BRFC was stressed. The Club was supportive of the Review. Needed to be taken to the Fans Forum and any Fans Consultation Meetings to be discussed with BRFC. Members were still sceptical of liaison with the Club, especially the Consultation Event. It was agreed that a key aim of the Trust was to be professional and strategic in order to be the key body to be representative of the fans on any future structure, whether Rovers Board or Shadow Board. 3/AGM Formalities Financial Position: Bank Account £15,521 Paypal £ 1,547 Sponsorship has been provided to 4000 Holes fanzine, brfcs website and Rovers Radio. The Trust is keen to eliminate ’in fighting’ amongst the fans and fan groups Josh from brfcs requested content from the Trust for the website. Confirmation that the Trust is a Community Interest Society and it is mandatory to charge an annual membership fee. Of its 650 members( up slightly since 2021) up to 200 thought they were automatically paying the annual fee, and the Trust was trying slowly to sort this out. 2022/23 Board Elected from 2021 were J.Murray(Chair); D.Miller; M. Ellison; A.Young Standing for Election were A. Green(from 2020 Board) and P.Bolton(for re-election). This brought the Board up to 6, plus M.Graham as co-opted Board member. The Board therefore has the ability to co-opt 5 more Members. Officers for 2022/23 were: P.Ridehalgh(new Secretary); P. Dickinson( Treasurer); and M.O’Neill (IT Support). John Murray said he had other persons to meet re skills in Crowdfunding and liaison with Members 9 Newsletters had been produced by the Trust since the last AGM. 5 Board Meetings had been held during an Omichron-affected year. The Trust Board meeting in May had included Rovers CEO, Steve Waggott. After considerable discussion on the CEO’s role and performance, it was agreed that the Trust needed to meet with BRFC staff to properly be the ‘critical friend’! Life membership was presented to OZ Jones who had been a founder member of the Trust and a Board member until 12 months ago. 4/ Inter-Action with Club Slide presentation from Duncan Miller outlined research findings on the fall in attendances and season ticket sales. This led to a lengthy Q & A session - Output of meetings with Club officials including Paul Fielder and Steve Waggott - A general consensus that their is little understanding of the community and the clubs place within it - Need for better engagement from the Trust and a more diverse board if we are to be truly representative - Discussion around long term aims re ownership/board representation Marketing Prospectus to be updated and presented to BRFC again in October 2022. The current Edition on Trust web-site: - Comments and ideas still requested 5/Trust Priorities Fan Led Review ACV on Ewood Park Increase social media content of Trust Continue support of 4000 Holes to attract membership Consideration on streaming 2023 AGM Increase membership to 1000 Safe Standing was debated, especially in a 2/3rds empty stadium. It was coupled with the State of the Riverside as a priority. The Chair suggested that US stadia had ‘bleachers’ areas, and with the rise in prices on the decaying Riverside, this needed to be pushed –linking it to pricing issues and Safe Standing. 6/Any Other Business Trust should develop plans for 150th anniversary of BRFC in 2025. It is believed that an unofficial group has already been formed by BRFC. This was linked to the Heritage Agenda the Trust was taking leadership on, but we do need ‘early wins’. Discussion re season ticket offering and specifically the costs for Under 25’s and Under 11’s ., with comparisons to PNE mentioned. AGM ended at 2145 and adjourned for informal discussions.

It seems an opportune time for this… For a tenner (or a third of the Waggott tax on a current season ticket) you can become a member of The Rovers Trust. What’s in it for you? You get an equal say in what we do, you can elect or stand for the Trust board, you can help us try to influence things at the club, you become a minority shareholder in BRFC. Whats in it for us? We want to represent as many members as possible, we want to hear ideas, we need to utilise skills, we want a bigger voice. There’s a lot more detail on our website, you can sign up there too. Many of you on will have got a flavour of some of the recent discussions we’ve been having with the club from posts on this forum. We’ve said for a while this will be a pivotal summer. We want to be in as strong a position as possible… the more members we have, the stronger we are. https://www.roverstrust.com

Our AGM is scheduled for June 22nd and will be held at Billington Brass Band Club. It would be great to see some of you there. We’ve made some decent strides over the last couple of years, particularly our contributions to the Fan Led Review, and we continue to attempt to represent our members views to the club. We remain disappointed with the lack of clear structure at the club, and the continued silence we are met with in our attempts to communicate with and engage the owners. We will however continue to attempt to open these channels and meet with club representatives on a regular basis. As we approach what will no doubt prove to be a pivotal time in the clubs recent history, we are looking to expand the Rovers Trust board. We currently have a small but committed group, but would like to supplement this with new individuals with fresh ideas. We need a board made up of people with a wide range of skills, but perhaps more importantly we require people who are passionate and able to commit time and effort to the cause. We wish to be representative of the entire fanbase, and as such recognise a need for more diversity among the board. We would particularly welcome interest from supporters who are female, from minority ethnic backgrounds, and of different ages. There is also a specific need for somebody with experience of crowdfunding projects. The board will ultimately be elected by our members, but we intend to actively co-opt additional members in order to maximise our productivity. If you are interested in discussing this further, please feel free to make contact via direct message on here, or by emailing enquiries@roverstrust.co.uk You can find out more about the Trust and out work at https://www.roverstrust.com

Seems an appropriate time to share this again… https://www.roverstrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/UPDATE-BRFC-MARKETING-PROSPECTUS.pdf We are trying. The Trust are always on the look out for new members and ideas, so please feel free to get in touch.

For reference, our updated Marketing Prospectus can viewed from this page on our site: https://www.roverstrust.com/2022/04/12/newsletter-updated-marketing-prospectus-april-2022/ Thank you for the feedback @1864roverite. We agree that the board and members involved can be proud of it, and we hope the club engages with it. There is some hope as they did begin to engage properly with our original prospectus (Jan 2020) last Summer. Better late than never.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1035900/v6_Football_Fan_led_Governance_Review_WebAccessible.pdf The Rovers Trust fully endorses the recommendations put forward by the fan-led review of football governance being led by Tracey Crouch MP. Many of these proposals chime with those put forward in the Rovers Trust’s own evidence submission in June. The Championship financial model is broken and the vibrancy of the football pyramid must be maintained. The financial redistribution proposals, when tied in with an effective regulatory regime and more sensible profit and sustainability accounting rules for EFL clubs, should help to remove some of the current distortion. We look forward to working towards implementing the recommendations of this final report of the fan-led review.

Just a quick update: Covid dominated our lives and many of our projects were sidelined and put on hold, even some real basics. There is a backlog of new registrations to work through, which I will be doing between now and Christmas. This will comprise a welcome email containing an additional confirmation (after the automatic process) of your membership, details of how to engage with our social media platforms, and a PDF of your Rovers Trust Membership certificate (we've gone paperless, so that we don't upset Sir David Attenborough too much). If you would like a physical copy, however, just reply to said welcome email and I will make a start on those in the New Year. We've also really got a proper handle on our social media platforms recently, as well as gradually updating the website to make it more user-friendly and make content clearer. In addition, having taken control of the Facebook Page it is far too basic and restrictive for our purposes. It will remain as a useful tool for public engagement, however, I will be looking to create a Facebook Group (with the same name) strictly for Rovers Trust Members for easier direct engagement with Trust projects. The Facebook Page and Twitter feed will remain Public.

It’s been quite the week so far. While today sees the club celebrate another anniversary, we are less than 48 hours removed from the worst result ever witnessed at Ewood Park. Today’s comments from the manager only serve to highlight the disconnect between the supporters and those entrusted with the running of the club and their bosses. Every single Rovers fan is acutely aware that it is no longer 1995, and of the clubs current state and the wider financial landscape of football. But on a day where the club are actively encouraging us to celebrate our illustrious 146 year history, we are also being instructed to be happy with our lot, to curb our expectations, to accept mediocrity. Every Rovers fan wants to see us right the wrongs of the Fulham debacle this Saturday when Sheffield United visit Ewood. Unfortunately the clubs pricing initiative seems to have been met more enthusiastically by the away fans than those of the Rovers, as the steady erosion of the supporter base continues. The events of this week will not have done anything to halt this. Recent happenings have only heightened our concerns around the lack of transparency, slow decision making processes, and absence of any clear strategy or vision. We would once again call for the Rao family to respond to our concerns highlighted in our letter dated May 14th.

Happy Birthday Rovers(!)

Yeah 'the club's idea 😉

Rovers Trust has submitted the below statement (drawn up wonderfully by Andy Young) to the Review of Football Ownership being conducted by Tracey Crouch MP, and her encouraging response is also detailed. What are your thoughts? BLACKBURN ROVERS TRUST: Submission to Fan-led review of football governance Prepared May/June 2021 OVERVIEW - Owners not been seen at Ewood Park for 7 years - Spring 2021 failed attempt to sell 50% of Training Ground - Annual Accounts 2019/20 not been filed - Open appeal to Owners to reveal plans –gone unanswered - After 10 years ownership the Desai Family still do not acknowledge they are running a highly-treasured Community Asset Blackburn is a town situated in East Lancashire with a population of around 118,000.(1) Crucially in terms of the club’s catchment area, the north west of England is also a hotbed of other professional football clubs with AFC Fylde, Accrington Stanley, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Bury, Everton, Fleetwood Town, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Morecambe, Oldham Athletic, Preston North End, Rochdale and Wigan all encircling the town of Blackburn and within easy commutable distance on a match day. Blackburn Rovers Football Club was established in 1875, becoming a founding member of The Football League in 1888 and of the Premier League in 1992. The club has been English champions three times, most recently in 1995, and has won six FA Cups, one Football League Cup and one Full Members' Cup. The club has spent much of its existence in the top flight of English football but currently competes in the second tier, The Championship. The club is famous world-wide and our iconic blue and white halved shirts remain one of the few football kits that is immediately identifiable. The club’s motto is ‘arte et labore’ which is taken from the town motto and means ‘by skill and hard work’. These are the very values that most Rovers’ fans, the majority of whom have a local connection of some description, identify with and we take great pride in this most successful of town football clubs. The Rovers have played at Ewood Park since 1890, with the current capacity being a shade over 31,000. A newly constructed purpose-built stadium was funded by the club’s then-owner, Jack Walker, in the early to mid-1990s. This was in conjunction with a state-of-the-art training and academy facility in the Ribble Valley, and as is perhaps more widely known, a cash injection into the playing staff and management team to transform a lower table second tier side into Premier League champions within the space of four years. While we might understand why some fans of other clubs might take a ‘poacher-turned-gamekeeper’ attitude to a Blackburn Rovers supporter complaining about club ownership, we very firmly and clearly see the intervention of Jack Walker in purchasing the club in 1991 as quite distinct from many of the modern-day ownership situations. Jack was a born-and-bred local man and a life-long Blackburn Rovers supporter who chose to spend his nest egg to chase a dream. More importantly, he understood the club and the people as well as anybody. We certainly do not subscribe to the theory that Jack Walker was in any way responsible for creating the financial situation professional football now finds itself in. Indeed, Blackburn Rovers only spent what was required to transition from second division relegation candidates to the upper echelons of the top flight, and other clubs outspent the Rovers by some distance.(2) In the noughties when the Rovers was an established, well-run and relatively successful Premier League club, average attendances were between 22,000 and 26,000. Since our relegation to the Championship in 2012, this average attendance has halved. It is perhaps worth pointing out that the club was also relegated from the Premier League while Jack Walker still owned the club, and indeed were a second-tier club when he sadly passed away in 2000. However, home attendances remained at an average of around 20,000 during that period away from the top flight. For the decade after Mr Walker passed away, the club was owned and run by the Walker Trust before being sold to the Indian poultry company Venkys in 2010. What followed, and remains to this day, was a change in the dynamic of the club from being owned and run by people who understood the history of the club and the psyche of local people to distant, absentee owners who didn’t seem to understand either the game of football or the culture, economics and traits of East Lancashire. The Rovers Trust could easily submit the equivalent of War and Peace to this review in respect of the damage that a decade of absentee ownership and the subsequent disconnect with the fanbase has done to both our football club and the local business community. Within 5 years of take-over our then Managing Director was in Court being told by the presiding judge that he was incompetent and disobeyed Owners’ instructions –he stayed in post a further one year! We had gone from being a universally regarded well-run Club to having no Executives, no Board meetings and no Financial and Contractual Control. Whilst we think we have stabilised since then, our problems serve as a timely reminder and a prime example of how things can quickly go very badly wrong. With this in mind, the Rovers Trust was established in November 2012 with the objective of bringing Blackburn Rovers back to the community. While the Trust’s current overall aim is to support the Rovers returning to the Premier League by the 150th anniversary of the club in 2025 including holding part ownership in the club, to retain its relevance to both members of the Trust and also the wider Rovers fanbase the Trust has also developed four supporting aims; -Securing the assets and heritage of the club -Preserving the long-term health of the club -Regenerating support and encouraging the return of 'stay-away' supporters - Helping to mitigate a lost generation of supporters. The Rovers Trust is firmly in agreement with the Football Supporters’ Association’s (FSA) excellent 2018 proposals to improve the regulation of professional football clubs(3) as well as its Sustain the Game(4) initiative,which was also written before the recent European Super League shenanigans,the principles of which are; -Protect our clubs. Football clubs like Blackburn Rovers are community assets and an important expression of individual and local identity, they deserve legal protection and urgent support to secure their future; -Transparency. Every supporter has a right to know who owns their football club, and how clubs and the authorities operate. Owners are custodians of clubs on behalf of all supporters. This is something that the Desai Family have never got to grips with in over a decade of owning Blackburn Rovers; - Financial controls. Fans want rules with real teeth which are independently enforced, clubs and leagues can’t be left to regulate themselves; The Rovers Trust wishes to see an end to the self-governance of both the Premier League and the EFL, with an independently chaired sub-group of both to be established to oversee a robust fit and proper test for owners similar to those proposed by the FSA. - Strengthen the pyramid. Football as a whole is wealthy, but we need a smarter and fairer use of the money in the game to encourage sustainability; The Rovers Trust feels that this should include arbitration between the Professional Footballer’s Association and all UK professional football leagues on a wage cap, an agreement for 25% of Premier League TV income to be dispersed among the lower divisions, and an end to parachute payments. To use the Blackburn Rovers example, Championship clubs chasing the Premier League dream ticket have become totally unsustainable and this will eventually kill the lower leagues. The current set-up can only lead to those clubs in receipt of parachute payments dominating the promotion and play-off spots more and more each season if it is allowed to continue. Supporters of Championship clubs are fast waking up to the realities, unfairness and financial disparities of the current system and any clubs who ever make it to the Premier League without parachute money will probably need to risk financial ruin and/or rule breaking to achieve it. - Supporter engagement. Fans are the lifeblood of the game and they need a voice in their clubs on all issues that affect them and their communities. The Rovers Trust would favour a business plan prepared for all takeovers which would include a compulsory supporter buy-in of,say, a minimum of 20% of share value. Professional football clubs cannot be regarded as ‘normal’ or ‘ordinary’ businesses. They have a special status as community hubs, built upon the loyalty of fans over many generations and the important part football clubs like Blackburn Rovers play in the lives of ordinary people. Professional football clubs are arguably the greatest expressions of community identity in our nation, particularly in places like Blackburn. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, if you tell people you come from Blackburn, they will likely associate you with the Rovers. Recently, however, it seems that too many club owners have disregarded the over-riding welfare of the clubs themselves and their community significance, matters over which they, for the time being, have custody and treat their supporters’ interests as subordinate to their own commercial interests. The recent European Super League fiasco is ample evidence of this. However, there are examples much closer to home for a Blackburn Rovers supporter, and the chasm that exists between the club’s owners and its supporters is seriously threatening almost 150 years of mainly proud history. It is the Rovers Trust’s firm view that reform is needed to apply better protection to certain key aspects of football clubs, which owners should be obliged to cherish and sustain, in the long-term interests of the fans and the communities the clubs represent, and we fully endorse all that the FSA has to say on these matters. Blackburn Rovers Trust, 6th June 2021. John Murray (Chair); Andy Young (National Rep) on behalf of Rovers Trust members. 1 2011 Census https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011census 2 Perspective on 1994/5 premier league spending https://www.theguardian.com/football/when-saturday-comes-blog/2013/oct/23/blackburn-premier-league-title-earned-1995 3 https://thefsa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FSA-Proposals-to-improve-football-regulation.pdf 4 https://thefsa.org.uk/our-work/sustainthegame/ Below follows Tracey Crouch MP's response. 'Previous exchange' refers to an enquiry made about a potential face-to-face or video conference meeting, which seems unlikely due to the time constraint in consulting with many dozens of Supporters Trusts. Apologies from me having formatting trouble, but I've made it as readable as possible. Tracey Crouch MP: Dear Andy Further to our previous exchange I have read your evidence and, as said previously, will ensure it is shared with the entire review panel and fed into our considerations when it comes to the drafting of the review's interim report. It is precisely this sort of well-informed and considered input from supporters that has helped shape the thinking of the review, and indeed given it its unique "fan-led" character. We are all very grateful for the time and effort that your Trust, along with all the other contributors, have invested, as volunteers, and that speaks very strongly about the commitment that fans have to the health of the game. Your explanation of the long history of Blackburn Rovers really underlined your points about the importance of the club to its community and its fanbase, and your description of the ups and downs in the club's fortunes in the course of those years, from the highs of the Jack Walker-inspired Premier League success (which I had to suffer as the friend of a mad Rovers fan!) to the more difficult challenges of recent seasons, provided an excellent illustration of some of the issues that we will be grappling with during our considerations. I note your support for the proposals put forward by the FSA in 2018, which of course retain their validity, and we have already been able to identify several areas of concern that seem to be shared across the supporters' movement at all levels of the game. Your point about football clubs not being "ordinary" businesses and having huge importance to their communities is very well made, and understood, I am sure, by all involved in this review process. We have limited time in the review to receive what could no doubt be an unlimited amount of heartfelt testimony, and so having looked at the diary I don’t think it will be possible to offer a personal meetings. You can rest assured however that with your submission you have succeeded in getting across the views of your members in a clear and meaningful way, and on behalf of the panel I would like to thank you once again for your support of the review process and your valuable input into it. Best wishes Tracey Tracey Crouch MP, Chatham & Aylesford Rovers Trust Submission to fan-led review of football governance.pdf